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specifically in Paraguay and Brazil. The effectiveness of the patent enforcement system in Taiwan is of concern. The United States is also concerned that judicial procedures dealing with powers of attorney are preventing effective prosecution of copyright violations. Nevertheless, the United States believes that the Taiwan authorities, at the highest levels, are dedicated to implementing specific new measures that will prove successful in rapidly increasing the level of IPR protection. Ambassador Barshefsky stated, "We welcome Taiwan authorities' recent assurances and we will closely monitor implementation of the specific measures over the next several months."
WTO Dispute Settlement
As in previous years, Ambassador Barshefsky once again is using the occasion of the annual Special 301 announcement to announce the initiation of WTO dispute settlement proceedings against countries not meeting their obligations under the TRIPS Agreement. The TRIPS Agreement obligates WTO members to provide minimum standards in their domestic law for protecting intellectual property and to enforce those standards.
Greece and the European Union
Ambassador Barshefsky today announced the initiation of WTO dispute settlement proceedings against Greece and the European Union regarding the high rate of television piracy in Greece. The United States is concerned that the failure to take action against TV stations that routinely broadcast U.S. movies and other programming without authorization represents a violation of the enforcement obligations of the TRIPS Agreement. This brings to 10 the number of IPR-related WTO complaints -- out of a total of 36 -- initiated by the United States.
"Approximately 150 Greek TV stations continue to broadcast U.S.-owned motion pictures and television programming without authorization and without any payment of compensation to U.S. copyright holders," said Ambassador Barshefsky. "We look to Greece and the European Union to recognize their obligations and to move quickly to end piracy of U.S. copyrighted works."
In 1996 the Government of Greece made a commitment to the United States to implement an "action plan" to address the problem of television piracy. As part of this "action plan," the Government of Greece committed, by April 30, 1997, to license Greek television stations, to deny licenses to stations that engaged in piracy, and to force unlicensed stations to stop broadcasting. Although the licensing process has been plagued by repeated delays, the Government of Greece finally completed the first stage of the process on March 23, 1998. The Government of Greece has stated in recent days that it has begun the process of closing down stations that have failed to submit applications for a license.
The requests for WTO consultations with Greece and the European Union were made yesterday and consultations are expected to be held within 30 days.
